"A collection of platoon members' accounts of the times and events
of the 47th Infantry Platoon (Scout Dog)"

Date

Event/Comments

Jim Adams leaves the 47th to join an Aviation company as a door
gunner. Adams completed his tour on 4/28/70 and returned to the States
via Cam Ranh Bay.

01/08/70

Scout Dog Murphy 6M77 was WIA. Murphy was working
off-leash when a member of the point element saw movement in
the bush and opened fire. Both of Murphy's testicles were shot
off.

01/25/70

Scout Dog Murphy 6M77 returns to duty after being WIA on
1/08/70.

01/29/70

Scout Dog Shep #69A3 killed.

01/31/70

By the end of January 1970 the platoon commander notes that
while the platoon continues to provide outstanding support for the brigade, the platoon is only able to field 12 Scout Dog teams due to a shortage of trained personnel.

February 1970

02/??/70

Joe White is believed to join the unit about this time. Exact date
/month not confirmed. Could have been a couple of months earlier. He was an
OJT handler from a line unit who later went on to write a book about his
experiences with the 47th IPSD ("Ebony & White", 1996,
Publisher: Doral Publishing Inc., currently out of print).
The book is alleged
to have some inaccurate information however the author states that it is an accurate representation of his experiences with the unit. The
author further acknowledges that
the book was poorly edited which he did not control. While the
book was not well received by some of the early platoon members,
it must be understood that a year after the original unit left country
many important changes had occurred to include a different objective for
the War's end and morale and drug issues had become widespread
through all units in Vietnam. The book, though poorly written, is worth
reading for its first-hand account.

02/18/70

The "Chicago Seven" defendants were found innocent of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention; five were convicted of violating the Anti-Riot Act of 1968 (those convictions were later reversed).

02/22/70

Scout Dog Little Joe 223M is KIA from small arms fire as he saved the lives of a squad of U.S. soldiers south of FSB Spear Vietnam. Working with his handler Sgt Charles Franks of Huntsville, Alabama, Little Joe was walking point position for the third Platoon of Company D; 1st Bn, 501st Infantry when he gave a strong alert. The 101st soldiers hit the ground just before a squad-sized NVA element opened up on them with small arms and automatic weapons fire from a bunker nearby. Official records indicate that Little Joe's body was not recovered. Only a few weeks before, Little Joe 223M had been credited with saving the lives of three other men by alerting them to an NVA ambush.

The 47th IPSD relocates its home base to Camp Hocmuth, Phu Bai when LZ
Sally is turned over to the ARVN Troops under "Vietnamization" of the
war. The platoon site is located at the old Cobra Pilot's area.

Platoon Sign and Kennel area at Phu Bai

03/07/70

Handlers Sgt Charles Franks and Lane Jacobson have been recommended for the Bronze Star W/"V" for actions in the field.

03/15/70

The 47th IPSD was inspected by one officer and one
senior NCO. The inspection was scheduled per letter dated
12/25/69 by CPT Roberto L. Miller.

Camouflage Matches

03/15/70

Sgt. Benjamin Wilson was WIA as a result of an enemy ambush and evacuated to Japan. Sgt. Wilson's dog Prince 14M1 was not injured. Source Document: March 1970 Monthly Report of Scout
Dog Operations dated 4/01/70.

03/20/70

SP/4 Steve Bowers completes his tour with the 47th. He returns to the States to Ft. Lewis, Washington and then goes home to Florida.

03/26/70

While attached to Charlie Company 3/187, SP4 Lane H Jacobson's dog Smokie 7M50 was KIA as a result of friendly fire.
The squad that Lane was with was in a night ambush position
approximately 300 meters from the 3rd platoon when members of
the 3rd platoon heard movement from the squad ambush and fired
on the squad. The only casualty was Smokie 7M50 who was KIA.
(Footnote: Military and VDHA Records show Smokie spelled
"Smokey" and indicate this incident occurred on 4/26/70. This
is reported in the Monthly Report of Scout Dog
Operations dated 3 May 1970 which covered the month of April
1970 and gives the date of the incident as being 3/26/70).

Smokie's final resting place

03/30/70

SP4 Robert Surratt was WIA as a result of enemy attack on a Platoon NDP. SP4 Surratt's dog Rex 9A20 was injured and was
sent to the 175th Veterinary Detachment in Phu Bai. Rex is
determined to have permanent ear damage. Source Document: March 1970 Monthly Report of Scout Dog Operations
dated 4/01/70.

03/31/70

Operation Randolph Glenn with elements of the 101st Airborne Division ends in I Corps.

April 1970

04/01/70

Operation Texas Star begun by the 101st Airborne Division in western portion of Quang Tri and Thua Thien Provinces in I Corps.

04/01/70

First Infantry Division returned stateside. This caused the 41st
IPSD to breakup and be transferred. Bill Sawyer, Werner
Kashkarov, Gus Fontanilla, SFC Slattery, and Lt. Thomas
Thorpe transferred to the 47th IPSD.

04/01/70

2LT. Thomas Thorpe takes over Command of the 47th IPSD from
1LT. Bradshaw. Thorpe stayed in to make the Army a career and
advanced to the rank of Colonel before retiring.

04/07/70

Midnight Cowboy starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight won the Acadamy Award for Best Picture of 1969.

A military invasion of Cambodia, called an incursion by the White
House was launched by some 50,000 U.S. and Vietnamese troops.
The operation aimed at destroying Vietcong and North Vietnamese
sanctuaries, was announced by President Nixon in a television
address on April 30.

May 1970

05/??/70

Scout Dog Sarge X052 dies as the result of heat exhaustion.

05/04/70

Four students were killed at Kent State University in Ohio when National Guard troops fired on some 600 anti-war demonstrators, some of whom had been throwing rocks at the guardsmen and taunting them.

In response to the killings, over 400 colleges and universities across America shut down. In Washington, nearly 100,000 protestors surround various government
buildings including the White House and historical monuments. On an impulse, President Nixon exits the White House and pays a late night surprise visit to the
Lincoln Memorial and chats with young protestors.

Pulitzer Prize Photo copyright John Filo

05/15/70

Two students were killed at Jackson State College in Jackson Miss.
when city and state police opened fire on demonstrators.

05/17/70

SP4 Darrold Smith WIA as a result of a booby trap which was detonated by his cover man. SP4 Smith's dog Lance 8M79
received no injuries. The handler was evacuated to the USS Sanctuary.

June 1970

06/09/70

SP4 Theodore Gibbs and his dog Charger 416A were in a NDP with the 1st Platoon, "C" CO, 2/327 when the position was mortared. The dog became frightened, broke his leash, and was
KIA after running into a mechanical ambush.

06/15/70

The claim of conscientious objector status on moral grounds alone
was found constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of
Welsh v. United States.

06/24/70

The U.S. Senate repeals the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

06/28/70

The Platoon had a CMMI which was passed with a satisfactory rating. Two mine dog teams from the unit have been attached to
the 2/327 Inf Bn and have been sweeping railroad tracks on a daily basis. Results are negative so far.

July 1970

07/02/70

It is estimated that the platoon will need six replacements in the next 60 days to replace handlers who will rotate.

07/04/70

In an e-mail dated 07/03/04, 47th handler Joe White recalls this day in 1970:

"When I first got to Vietnam I almost immediately began walking point as a member of the 101st Airborne Division. After a few months the voice of God got into my head and told me that I would die if I kept walking point like I was doing every day. That then led to my transfering into the Scout Dogs, where a trained dog walked point in front of me, as an early warning. My new dog group supported my old infantry unit, as they needed dogs, and they called for a dog team on the July 4th mission. That order was missent to another dog platoon. I was next to go on our list, and would have been with them, but was not. And on the morning of July 4, 1970 (see photo), my old squad, and a dog team, were all killed in an ambush. By the grace of God, I missed dieing there twice.

So on the Fourth I remember, and I also remember that the dogs, my own Ebony included, were not allowed to come home."

Webmaster's Note: The VDHA web site lists a handler KIA on 7/4/70 from the 58th IPSD, a William Clayton Ray from De Mossville KY, Wall Panel 09W - Line 119. Ray's dog is listed as "Fritz." Robert Kollar of the 58th, in his on-line unit history writes "The second KIA for this unit occurred, on July 4, 1970, when Sp4 William Clayton Ray was killed. His dog Fritz received minor shrapnel wounds."

07/05/70

Honor America Day was observed in Washington D.C. as
thousands gathered to show support for the administration's war
policies.

07/??/70

Bill Sawyer and Gus Fontanilla complete their tours and
return to the States.

07/??/70

Cass Casimano joins the 47th from the 33rd IPSD.

07/??/70

A Scout Dog (unnamed) is reported to have
accidentally hung himself in one of the hooches. Actual date and details are
missing.

07/??/70

A very unusual and extraordinary mission occurred that involved two Scout Dog Teams from the 47th IPSD. The mission was comprised of Joseph White and his Scout Dog Ebony 030M and Teddy Gibbs and his Scout Dog Dug 112M. These two dog teams together with another team were sent to a mountainous jungle area west of Phu Bai to support the 2/327 Infantry.

An altercation erupted between the handlers and the Commanding Officer of the unit over several issues one of which was a dog fight that broke out between two of the dogs. The CO (whose identity is not known) is alleged to have pointed his rifle at Gibbs causing Joe White to knock the CO to the ground - and a scuffle ensued. This incident and other issues caused the sentiments between the handlers and the unit to turn ugly and suspicious. The following morning the tensions had not been diffused and White and Gibbs refused to continue the mission with the unit as they feared for their safety and support from this unit. Instead Joe White and Teddy Gibbs decided to make their way back to Phu Bai by following the ridge line back down one mountain and over another mountain to the lowlands where they linked up with other Americans who helped them get back to their platoon area at Phu Bai. Their trek back was made all the more fascinating when they ran out of water and Ebony alerted on water which may have saved their lives.

White and Gibbs were eventually court-martialed for disobeying a direct order and penalized by loss of rank and two months' pay.

There has been a drop in missions for the month of July as a result of an increasing problem with Red Tongue. Approximately 60% of the dogs in this unit have had Red Tongue and with this rate, Infantry Battalions cannot be supplied with all the Scout Dog teams requested.

August 1970

08/05/70

Frank Steinhebel and Richard T. Moore join the platoon as replacement handlers after arriving in-country at Long Binh three weeks earlier and spending the previous three days loading body bags at Da Nang. Frank is assigned Scout Dog Bullet 6M29 who is the only "bobbed-tail" german shepherd.

John Pinezaddleby arrives at the 47th as a replacement dog handler.
John's dog's name is Fant (KO27).

September 1970

09/02/70

For the month of August the mine dog teams were employed along railroad tracks running through the 2/327 area of operation. Results were negative.

09/09/70

Handler Tim Edwin Newell was KIA and his dog Blackie #38A3 ran off. The dog was heard barking and howling that night. Blackie's body was never recovered. Tim Newell was a new OJT handler who had transferred into the 47th from an Infantry unit only about two months earlier. At the request of Tim's parents, Donald R. Loew escorted Tim's body home.

In an e-mail dated 3/14/03, Adam Klawonn, whose father Gale served with Tim when he was killed, relates the following:

"The story, according to my dad, Gale Klawonn, is kind of general. I don't have the name of the village or outlying area it happened in, but I do have this...

It was toward the end of my dad's 10 months and 28 days in the bush. He was in the 101st Airborne, and at some point, Tim Newell was brought in as a Handler. They became fast friends (Tim from Des Moines, Iowa, my dad from Grand Island, Neb.).

Dad had on a bracelet that indicated his tour was almost up. He may have had one month left. Whether the bracelet was standard military issue or just a platoon custom, I have no clue.

The group started out into the bush, my father going point. But Tim insisted on letting himself go on point instead, because they were buddies and my dad's time was almost up. They argued for awhile before my dad finally gave in.

Unfortunately, it was Tim's time that was up. Shortly thereafter he was shot in the head at very close range, with my father flanking him. He died in his arms. "

"On the mission to replace Tim Newell Charles Fisher and I were sent
out. We both ended up with the same platoon. This was the platoon that Tim
was with when he got killed. The other platoon was under enemy fire so the
Chopper pilot told me to go with Tim's platoon. Charles and I took turns
walking point. Sometime after this mission Charles Fisher was assigned as a
reporter for Stars And Stripes. Just a little info that I remember from the
mission."

Thorpe turns over command of the 47th IPSD to 2nd LT. John Van
Clief. Exact date/month might be slightly off so confirmation is needed
but it is believed close.

09/23/70

Scout Dog Baron #81A3 killed.

October 1970

10/01/70

For the month of September the mine dog teams were employed
along Railroad Tracks running through the 2/327 area of operation. Results were negative.

10/15/70

Edward L. Reeves transfers into the 47th with his dog Prince 986A from the deactivated 33rd IPSD with the 4th Div first at An Khe.

Paul D. Kraay completes his service with the 47th and departs.

10/??/70

Sergeant Darmstat and
his
scout dog Rider 7K21 alerted on a large mine placed under some
railroad tracks, saving the team and any train that might come along. Vet Tech Sandy Burnstein volunteered to accompany Darmstat on the mission. He recalls the events as follows:

"The location was the Lang-co bridge, the largest bridge in I Corps as I remember. I was walking second man
behind Darmstat trying to keep ARVN relatively close for support. It was very scary as on one side of the tracks there was a ridge about 100 ft tall. On the opposite side
was the sea, meaning if we were ambushed, the only place to run was into the sea. There was tall, wet, monkey grass between the tracks. All of us were walking between
the tracks. It was thick so we couldn't see much through the grass. Rider stopped and sat ( a mine dog's alert ) we peeked through the grass and there it was. Called in a
demolitions and they pulled out a 30lb block of c4 obviously enough the blow the next train. Rider saved me and Darmstat from certain death as I was about 20ft behind he
and Darmstat."

Sandy Burnstein volunteered on several mine sweep operations and also came under fire on
another mission and earned the combat medic's badge.

10/??/70

Cass Casimano and his dog Roger 3M84
were patrolling in the mountains outside of Phu Bai when Roger alerted on a
booby trap ahead. By the type of alert Casimano was sure it was a trip wire
stretched across the
path. The Scout Dog team was guiding a platoon from the 101st Airborne.
The booby trap turned out to be a U.S.-dropped bomb which
never detonated. The enemy had found it and ran a trip wire to it to set it
off. Casimano and Roger were awarded the Bronze Star for preventing
serious injury or death to the men behind them.

10/15/70

The Baltimore Orioles top the Cincinnati Reds 9-3 and clinch the World Series 4 games to 1

10/22/70

Scout Dog Fant KO27 was KIA. PFC John Pinezaddleby and Fant KO27 were in an NDP with the 3rd Platoon, "A"
Co, 2/327 when the dog broke away from his handler and was shot
by friendly personnel who assumed the dog was enemy personnel.
Fant's body may not have been recovered.

November 1970

11/??/70

Dan Tupper reports to the 47th after 2 weeks in country at Bien Hoa Army Base.

11/03/70

During October the mine dogs were employed mostly along
railroad tracks running through the 2/327 area of operation. One
pressure type device attached to approximately forty pounds of
C-4 was found along these same tracks.

11/30/70

Sergeant First Class Rafael Angel Diaz killed at approximately 0430 hours by an M-18-A1 Anti-Personnel (Claymore) mine placed on the sandbag wall outside his bunk. Diaz was asleep at the east end of billets #11-337 at the time of the detonation. The explosion caused a 5' by 5' hole in the end of the billets and knocked Diaz from his bunk. Diaz was evacuated to the 85th Evac Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 0530 hours. An Army investigation was conducted and concluded it was intentional homicide but there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone for the crime.

For a period afterward, platoon members were not allowed to leave the platoon area for any reason without an MP escort.

Sgt. Diaz' hootch after explosion (left- immed. after (provided by J.R. Van Clief, Jr.), right- several days after (provided by F. Steinhebel)):

Frank Steinhebel was on hand during this time and offered the following (summarized) observations (April, 2000):

Diaz was a six foot-six inch tall Supply Sergeant who transferred into the unit.
He was very pro-active in soliciting assignments for the dog teams and
was trying to get them out in the field working as much as possible. That did
not go over too well with the guys. Frank recalled that Diaz would look thru the guys' stuff looking for drugs and confiscate it. At that time the unit was divided
into three kind of guys:
"The Heads", "The Juicers", and "The Religious Freaks". He said a few of the guys may have
been using hard drugs via the needle.
It seems things were pretty "cool" until Diaz joined the unit then tensions
seemed to elevate.

After the Diaz death, Frank remembered that Lt. Van Clief purchased a Thompson sub-machine
gun from one of the guys for $50.00 and kept it for protection. He also says
that John Van Clief would move his bunk every night in the hootch. The guys
could hear him dragging his bunk to a different location in the hootch as a
precaution.

Frank also recalled that some guys (maybe as a prank or to scare him) hung about 50 hand grenades
from the ceiling of Van Clief's hootch and locked the door. When John broke in he found
them
waiting for him. It shook him up a bit. They were not rigged to go off but just the
thought...

After the CID investigation of the murder a platoon member was arrested but not prosecuted due to lack of evidence.

Frank expressed fond memories of the guys that he knew in the unit and added that the Diaz murder was an unforgetable event.

Note- John Van Clief, Jr. sent the webmaster a letter on May 9, 2009 with his own recollections of Sgt. Diaz' murder - to read the letter click here.

One of the mysteries surrounding Sgt. 1st Class Rafael Angel Diaz has been solved.

Diaz was killed in Vietnam in 1970, one day after his 30th birthday. He moved with his family to Aurora before shipping overseas, but, until recently, the county lacked the two pieces of proof needed to put Diaz's name among the 837 dead on the Kane County Veteran's Memorial.

The memorial, on the lawn of the Kane County Government Center in Geneva, was dedicated in 2004. It is an effort to honor all the county residents killed in war. It names 53 soldiers killed in Vietnam, but that list does not include Rafael Diaz.

"My husband needs to be in there," said Diaz's widow, Brunilda Diaz, 66, of Aurora. "He deserves to be there. This way we have a place to go and see him."

Diaz is buried in his native Puerto Rico. His name will be added to the memorial this spring.

Locating his family and the needed proof of residence left one mystery regarding Sgt. Diaz - which of his men rigged the explosive mine that killed him.

'Love at first sight'

Brunilda Diaz was 18 years old and talking to a friend outside her New York high school when she met Rafael, also 18.

"My husband was outside waiting for his girlfriend actually," she said, laughing. "When you meet somebody and some bells ring, or whatever you want to call it, and thats what my affair with my husband was like."

The son of a military man, Rafael was raised by his aunt in Puerto Rico. At 17, he came to New York to visit his mother and stayed.

Rafael and Brunilda wed in 1958, right after he left basic training.

When Rafael reached a rank where Brunilda could travel with him, the pair moved as the job demanded. Their daughter Liz, now 48, was born in North Carolina; Rafael Jr., 45, was born in New York; and Robert, 44, was born in Germany.

Liz Diaz, of Plano, said her father moved the family from New York to Aurora to be near his brother, Marco "Tony" Diaz, a minister.

"It was like a holding tank for us until he came back from Vietnam," she said. "This was the longest we had lived in one place."

Two mysteries

After serving in a supply unit, Sgt. Diaz was transferred to the 47th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon in August 1970. He would be killed three months later.

Frank Steinhebel, 57, of Madison Heights, Mich., was one of the platoon's many dog handlers.

"He was a lot older than us, about 30," said Steinhebel, who was 20 when Diaz joined the platoon. "He wanted it to be more military and we were like Hogan's Heroes, rejects."

The group was a young one, with 20-year-old Steinhebel older than the platoon's commanding lieutenant.

Diaz, a career soldier among draftees, irked the men by volunteering them for missions and cracking down on the rampant drug problem, said Spc. 4th Class Ed Reeves, who lives in Grove City, Ohio.

"He busted the people who had the drugs," Reeves said. "He tried to take care of it in-house. He tried to get the guys help, get them in rehab."

Early on the morning of Nov. 30, 1970, someone rigged a M18A1 Claymore Antipersonnel Mine on a sandbag outside the hut where Diaz slept. The by-the-book sergeant became one of the 234 intentional homicides the National Archives attribute to Vietnam.

"I was out in the field when it happened," Steinhebel said. "I come in the next day and there was a hole in the wall. There were rumors that someone did it. They arrested one guy, but they had no proof."

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command did not return telephone calls for this article. In total, 58,193 Americans died in Vietnam.

It was 1996 before Liz Diaz heard her father might have been murdered.

"Recently, before my uncle [Marco Diaz] passed, he told me there were some things 'unfavorable,' " she said. "My dad was a man of integrity and my dad did everything the military asked of him and he did it effectively. It's just too bad he had to be victimized liked that."

"Whether it happened that way or not, we're still proud of him," Brunilda Diaz said. "He was serving his country."

Seeking Sgt. Diaz

For the past 12 years, John Carr, head of Kane County Veterans Assistance, has collected names of county residents killed in war.

"We would look for any military list, any newspaper articles, any telegrams from the military, any references, family, any item that would help us be able to put that together," Carr said.

Carr, a Vietnam veteran himself, said Illinois' veteran list put Diaz as an Aurora resident, but the national lists still had him as a New Yorker. Efforts to place Diaz were fruitless.

Last year, Penny Falcon of the Hispanic Pioneer Committee contacted Carr while researching Hispanic veterans. Carr mentioned Diaz, and Falcon began the search anew, focusing more on Aurora's tight-knit Puerto Rican community than government records.

At the Hispanic Pioneer Breakfast in September, Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay told Diaz's story. In the audience was Zaida Chapa, president of the Aurora Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

View a subsequent June 3, 2007 article published by the Kane County Chronicle about Diaz' name being added to the Kane County Veterans Memorial in Geneva, IL.

December 1970

12/02/70

During November, the mine dogs were employed along railroad
tracks running through the 2/327 area of operation. Results were
negative.

12/22/70

The Cooper-Church amendment to the U.S. defense appropriations bill forbids the use of any U.S. ground forces in Laos or Cambodia.

American troop levels drop to 280,000 by year's end. During the year, an estimated 60,000 soldiers experimented with drugs, according to the U.S. command.
There were also over 200 incidents of "fragging" in which unpopular officers were attacked with fragmentation grenades by men under their command. In addition,
many units are now plagued by racial unrest, reflecting the disharmony back home.

12/28/70

PFC Kenneth Nywening's Scout Dog Sergeant 5A05 becomes ill while supporting the 1st/501st. The team was brought in from the field and the dog died the same day.

12/31/70

Dan Tupper is assigned CQ duty on New Year's Eve.

12/31/70

In December, while working with the combined forces of
Americans and ARVNs Sgt Darmstadt and his Scout Dog Rider 7K21 found three booby traps of large size with no casualties. Exact date
of incident not known.